Office closures during the mid-autumn festival

COVID-19: updates on DACHSER’s operations in China and Korea

We would like to inform you about the latest update on the market situations and current status of DACHSER’s operations in China and South Korea.

China

All DACHSER branches in China are open except Wuhan. Starting from March 2, most branches are operating with full teams, but the operations are not resuming to full capacity, as the local market conditions are still very challenging with shortage of labor and traffic controls. Domestic trucking remains a major issue.

General status in China

Factories are slowly picking up with their productions. Compared with last week, more factories have resumed work, but production is not up to 100% normal, while some of the factories are either still closed or operating with skeleton staffing. Generally, all businesses are gradually resuming. In many locations, authorities only allow a limited number of staff to enter the premises to prevent workplace infection. Therefore, most of the enterprises are operating with skeleton staffing, and have part of their employees working from home, if applicable. Employees who returned from the Hubei province are required to stay in quarantine for 14 days before returning to workplace. This quarantine restriction also applies to truck drivers.

DACHSER branches in China

• All DACHSER branches except Wuhan are open and resumed business. Wuhan is closed until further notice.
• A few DACHSER branches are operating with skeleton staffing due to local authorities’ preventive measures.
• Employees, if not in the office, are working from home to keep the operations ongoing.
• There are delays in some processes, as most of the units in the supply chain within China are not functioning in full capacity.

Transport logistics in China

While we are trying our best to keep your supply chain as smooth as possible, please consider that other units in the supply chain did not resume full capacity yet. Carriers and terminals are gradually resuming operations with skeleton staff. Delays and other operational issues are expected.

Road:

• Lack of truckers is currently the major issue in China.
• Inter-cities and inter-provinces trucking are especially challenging due to heavy regulations on road, making road journeys heavily delayed.

Railway:

• Rail carriers resumed to work from March except Wuhan and Yiwu, total capacity is higher compared with February.
• Rail terminals are operating (except Wuhan) overtime to achieve higher volume of container handling.
• Customs are operating except Wuhan.
• FCL service on pre/on-carriage has resumed.
• FTL service is available.
• LTL service is available for some districts.

Air:

• Airlines increased freighters from China as factories has gradually resuming production.
• Capacity is still an issue since many of the airlines suspended passenger flights.
• It is expected that space will get tighter towards end of March as factories production is ramping up.

Sea:

• Shortage of truckers and equipment
• Carriers have reduced sailings to and from China.
• Westbound: Cargo volume is recovering as more factories are resuming production; backlog is expected once the factories are fully operative, leading to shortage of truckers and space.
• Eastbound: Intense space shortage
• Ocean terminals are operating, except Wuhan.

South Korea

Overall, the factories are open and operating normally except in Daegu where some factories are closed because their staff was infected with the virus. Business are mostly not affected, some enterprises including some of the carriers are having special working arrangement such as implementing flexible working hours or allowing staff to work from home.

DACHSER branches in South Korea

All DACHSER branches in Korea are currently open. To protect the safety of our staff, employees are asked to work from home whenever applicable. The operations teams are working on shift in the office at flexible hours to keep our service delays to minimal.

Transport logistics in South Korea

Air:

• Intra-Asian flag carriers have suspended passenger flights to and from South Korea. Therefore more than 50% of the capacity is reduced.

Sea:

• Currently there are no major impacts except blank sailing.

Domestic trucking:

• Minor delays for pick-up and delivery especially to and from Daegu due to road restrictions and preventive measures, no major issues at other places with in South Korea.

 At DACHSER, we have contingency measures in place and will offer you the best alternative solutions to keep your supply chain running in case any shipment is affected. We will keep our customers updated with the latest information on the current situation. Should you have any concerns and/or queries, please feel free to contact your local DACHSER representative.

DACHSER helps in the fight against COVID-19

DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics has transported 3.25 million face masks from Mexico to Germany. There, DACHSER Road Logistics delivered them to various hospitals.

Market info update on Brexit: Phase 3 of the UK Border Operating Model

Last year, the British government presented how the import of goods should proceed after the end of the transitional phase of the Brexit. With the so-called "Border Operating Model" guide, a three-stage plan for the introduction of customs controls was concretized.

With the entry into phase 3 of the guideline, the UK customs procedures set in motion as part of the Brexit take another important milestone. DACHSER is continuously adapting to these changes in customs and transport procedures so that goods are transported across the border largely smoothly. From January 01, 2022, border controls will be strengthened. In the future, an electronic export declaration will then be required at the border. In addition, a new IT system for goods movements to and from the UK, the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), will be introduced. 

The manual EIDR (Entry Declarants Record) procedure, which allows goods to be moved across the border using the trader's EORI number, will no longer be permitted from 01 January 2022. Instead, an electronic Simplified Customs Declaration Process (SCDP) must be followed. The GVMS is already used for transit movements. However, starting January 01, 2022, the customs declaration will be assigned to a Goods Movement Reference (GMR) created in GVMS, automating the border control process. The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), in turn, links the customs declaration and GMR, so that vehicles no longer need to stop at the border. 

Unless you instruct us otherwise, DACHSER will take care of linking the customs declaration and GMR. If you wish to take care of the customs declaration yourself - either in-house or via an external customs service provider - please inform DACHSER of the customs declaration number for import clearance. DACHSER enters the so-called Import Release Reference (IRR) into GVMS so that the goods can cross the border.

In addition, from 01 January 2022, imports of products of animal origin (POAO) and certain animal by-products (ABP) from the EU into the UK must be pre-notified via the “Import of products, animals, food and feed system” (IPAFFS). These product categories, as well as plants and plant-based products, do not need to be physically inspected until 01 July 2022. Their inspection will be gradually introduced for each product category from 01 July to 01 November 2022. Please refer to the attached document for details. Please inform DACHSER if you would like to use the above additional services for your products. Should you wish to make the customs declaration for POAO, ABP or plant or plant-based products yourself, you are also responsible for the declaration in IPAFFS.

Over the course of 2022, additional changes will gradually come into effect. Of particular note are import safety and security declarations, also known as ENS, beginning July 1, 2022. As implementation approaches, more information will be required on ENS and inspections on POAO, certain ABP, and plant and plant-based products.

This information provided applies to network shipments carried on our groupage service and part and full trailer load movements. In order to be prepared for the new control procedures, the DACHSER network has collectively reviewed its processes and adapted them where necessary. HMRC, the UK's HM Revenue & Customs, has set up a hotline for questions about customs and international trade: Call 0300 322 9434 for help with imports, exports and customs reliefs. The hotline is staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. UK time on weekends.

Useful links

You can send HMRC your import and export questions at the following link. You will also find a webchat function here.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/customs-international-trade-and-excise-enquiries

HMRC has set up a dedicated support service for exporting traders to help them with practical questions about exporting from the UK to Europe:

https://www.gov.uk/ask-export-support-team

HMRC's YouTube channel also features other helpful videos and webinars on customs procedures.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/customs-international-trade-and-excise-enquiries

Emissions calculations with DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics

For several years now, DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics has been compiling so-called carbon footprints (calculation of the CO₂ balance sheet) of freight transports and summarizing the individual transport-related calculations in emissions reports. The preparation of these reports is a value-added service offered to DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics customers worldwide and is tailored to the individual needs of the customer. In general, primary energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and various air pollutants can be calculated at consignment level. This can also be broken down to individual transport sections. In this way, transport-related carbon footprints can be calculated for complete transport chains, including the pre-carriage, main carriage and onward carriage.

DACHSER uses an emissions calculator for the calculations, which meets all the requirements of the European standard for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from passenger and goods transport (EN 16258). Another advantage of the emissions calculator is that the calculation processes are automated via an XML interface to our Othello transport management system. This allows the emission reports to be generated completely automatically.

In general, the emission calculation in the first step serves to determine the primary energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants emitted by transports. However, this information is essential for deriving necessary measures to reduce emissions. Therefore, in addition to the pure calculations, it is also important to be able to provide our customers with further bases for decisions on emission reduction. For this reason, customers receive simulated calculations of alternative means of transport and bundling strategies on request.

In addition to a comparison of the classic means of transport by air and sea, the alternative of rail transport (see DACHSER Rail Services) is also highlighted for customers. 

If you have any questions about our emissions calculator, please contact your DACHSER contact person.